COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (June 6, 2012) - CBS Sports Network will be nationally broadcasting coverage from the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Collegiate Sand Volleyball National Championships that were held on April 27-29 in Gulf Shores, Ala.

The first hour of coverage will be shown on CBSSN on Wednesday, June 6, at 9 p.m. ET. This special will show several matches of the tournament but will focus primarily on the semifinal match of the pairs championship between Long Beach State (Long Beach, Calif.) and Florida State (Tallahassee, Fla.).

The second part, which will highlight the pairs’ finals between Long Beach State and Pepperdine (Malibu, Calif.), will be aired next Wednesday, June 13, at 10 p.m. ET.

Besides the efforts of USA Volleyball’s Gulf Shore Region, USAV also contributed to the event by hosting a Beach Coaching Accreditation Program course, a Beach High Performance Tryout and a kids’ beach volleyball clinic. Matt Gage, who had organized both USAV and AVP professional tournament, was brought in to act as the tournament director.

In its first season on the NCAA scene, college sand volleyball will be making its television debut to showcase what these athletes have to offer. The event being broadcast will show actual game play, player interviews and expert commentary from the tournament.

The pairs championship lasted for three days and was comprised of 16 doubles teams from their respective schools. The duos began competition in pool play to earn seeding in the single-elimination tournament.

Long Beach State, Pepperdine, Florida State and the College of Charleston (Charleston, S.C.) each produced five doubles teams that competed in the double-elimination team championship.

Participants in the tournament came from colleges across the country which include: Pepperdine, Long Beach State, Florida State University, the College of Charleston, the University of Southern California, the University of Hawai’i, Florida Atlantic University, UAB, the University of North Florida and Stetson University.

“We could not have planned for a better inaugural championship for Sand Volleyball,” said AVCA Executive Director, Kathy DeBoer, “and to have CBS Sports Network make it into an entertaining show so that we can share it with the rest of the country is icing on the cake.”